FWC upholds employee’s right to flexible working arrangements for childcare responsibilities

Case note: Kent Aoyama v FLSA Holdings Pty Ltd [2025] FWC 524

The Fair Work Commission (FWC) has ordered a workplace to allow an employee to work an additional day per fortnight at home to be with his young child. The FWC decision came about after the employee’s individual flexibility arrangement (IFA) request was denied.

The facts

Mr Aoyama is employed full-time by FLSA Holdings Pty Ltd (FLSA) as an account manager. He had been working from home twice a week since July 2021.

After Mr Aoyama’s wife gained new employment with less flexible working requirements, Mr Aoyama lodged a formal IFA request seeking permission to additionally work from home every second Monday until his child was two in July 2025. His application outlined that he needed to be home to assist his child’s nanny with nappy changes and naps, among other things.

FLSA rejected the request. Its main concerns were the impacts on customer perception of the business, responsiveness to calls and emails during business hours, and Mr Aoyama potentially having to take his daughter with him to external customer meetings.

Individual flexibility arrangements (IFA)

Under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Act), an employee may request an IFA where they have served as an employee for over 12 months and would like to change the working arrangements due to one of the following circumstances:

• the employee is pregnant;
• the employee is the parent, or has responsibility for the care, of a child who is of school age or younger;
• the employee is a carer (within the meaning of the Carer Recognition Act 2010 );
• the employee has a disability;
• the employee is 55 or older;
• the employee is experiencing family and domestic violence; and
• the employee provides care or support to a member of the employee’s immediate family, or a member of the employee’s household, who requires care or support because the member is experiencing family and domestic violence.

An employer may refuse the application only when it has:

• discussed the request with the employee;
• genuinely tried to reach an agreement;
• considered the impact of refusal on the employee; and
• there are reasonable business grounds for refusal.

Section 65A of the Act provides a non-exhaustive list of circumstances that are considered reasonable business grounds. Reasons include that the new working arrangement requested would be:

• too costly;
• likely to result in a significant loss in efficiency or productivity; or
• likely to have a significant negative impact on customer service.

FWC decision

The FWC found FLSA did not have ‘reasonable business grounds’ to refuse the request.

FLSA attempted to rely on the employment contract which stated that the usual place of work was the North Sydney office. However, the FWC noted that the employee had been consistently working from home twice a week with no objection from FLSA.

FLSA raised vague concerns from clients about distracting noises from babies in the background whilst speaking with the employee. The FWC labelled these comments as “so imprecise as to be completely unhelpful”. The FWC said that FLSA failed to reveal how these comments showed actual detriment to the business.

FLSA was unable to persuade the FWC that an extra day per fortnight of remote work would have any material bearing on the efficiency or productivity of the business, or result in any negative customer service.

FLSA argued that a precedent may be set for other employees at FLSA in seeking variations to remote working policies. The FWC emphasised that this would not create a precedent for other employees and stressed that these arrangements are tailored to individual circumstances and that any future agreements must be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

Lessons for employers

Where employers cannot accommodate IFA requests, they will need to ensure those reasons are based on ‘reasonable business grounds’ outlined in the Act and explain how these relate to each request.

Employers resisting work-from-home arrangements should be able to demonstrate on reasonable business grounds, the reasons for having staff work at the office.

In particular, employers should make sure managers/supervisors are aware of policies and processes for compliance with IFA requirements.

Contact us

If you are an employer seeking advice on individual flexibility arrangement applications or updating your flexible work policies, please contact a member of our Workplace Relations group.